Well... Another mission changing week...

President Riggs called me into his office. We had the LONGEST conversation I have ever had with him... But I will sum it up with one sentence he said to me... "Elder Litchfield, it has been revealed to me by the Lord that you are to serve as an Assistant in the Richmond Virginia Mission."........................... Holy smokes... I did not see that coming in the slightest. There will be a brand new mission president in Richmond on July 1st, 2013. His name is President Wilson (we looked him  up haha). So that is the path that my mission will take. Just has Aaron said to the King in Alma 22 "The Spirit of the Lord has called him (ME) another way..." It will be a great opportunity to learn and grow, but I will miss President Riggs and all of the friends I have made in the DC South mission. It's weird. When I got my mission call, I would have never thought I would be switching missions. But if that is what the Lord wants, that is what I will do.

We recently called up 2 new assistants to repalce Elder Norris and myself. Elder Yates, from Bountiful Utah. And Elder Rasmussen from Sandy Utah. Both are great leaders and will do a fantastic job. We will have a fun time being in a trio. I have been told that I will leave for the Richmond mission on June 15th. Where I will spend 2 weeks touring the mission and learning as much as I can about it from my future companion, Elder Newmeyer. I will also show him around Fredericksburg and Woodbridge. I know that area fairly well, since I served 6 months in both.

The mission is always changing. Something that I have learned over the coarse of my mission, and have a firm testimony of, is that whatever happens... know that God is in it.

Transfers are this week. We are getting 37 new missionaries. It will be crazy, but exciting. I think the hardest thing is having to memorize their names and faces before they arrive. President Riggs told us he is going to take us to get our shoes shined before the new missionaries arrive. SWEET! I have never had that happen to me before. They will most likely do a better job than I do... But it will be close. =)

Love you all!

Elder Michael Litchfield

What a cool week this has been! We found some really solid investigators this week! On Tuesday we were working in our area with President Riggs. We were able to teach two INCREDIBLE lessons. It is so nice teaching with President. We had 3 of our investigators come to church on Sunday! One lady brought her two little girls. It was awesome!

On Friday we had Elder Larry Echo Hawk speak to our mission at a conference. There were actually 2 conferences cause we divided the mission up in half. So I was able to hear it twice. It was a such a blessing to be able to hear his testimony and talk to him afterward. it was such a last minute thing too. We had no idea if he would be able to speak. Elder Norris and myself also spoke at the conferences. I feel we accomplished our purpose, which was to get the mission pumped! Our mission struggled in the beginning of the year, but we have made some HUGE strides this past month and have really kicked into high gear. I love it! 

This week we go to the temple with the missionaries that are going home. It is such a blessing to be able to go to the temple once a transfer. Then the next day there is Return and Report, which is where the new missionaries and their trainers meet and discuss how the transfer is gone. As well as receive training on how to improve their missionary skills.

Each week a "Keystone" is written for the mission. It is read before district meetings on Tuesdays. This week I had the honor of writing it. It is attached to this email.

Love you all!

Elder Michael Litchfield

Another great week in the Washington DC South mission has come and gone.

Monday night we had a lesson with a less-active family in our ward, who has a recent convert daughter that Elder Norris taught when he was in this area a year ago. They haven't been to church since then. The lesson was amazing. We committed them to read from the Book of Mormon everyday and they accepted! Come Sunday we see them sitting as a family together! The family wants to work towards going to the temple to be sealed for time and all eternity.

Tuesday I was on an exchange with a zone leader from the McLean zone. We were in a neighborhood with a lot of people walking around. President Riggs has emphasized boldness and persistence. So if people are to reject us, we want them to reject our message, and not us as missionaries. When we attempt to talk to people, most of them will say no thank you. That's only because they don't know the message we have to share. So we need to be bold and persistant and teach them our message. If they refuse us again, then we know that they are refusing the Restored Gospel. This has been working well, but it has also brought up a lot of angry people... haha! One lady, in the neighborhood, was yelling at us. She told us that we were unwanted and didn't belong. A couple days later that lady came up to me while I was in line at Subway and apologized to me. That was a first! But she said that didn't change the fact that she doesn't want to hear our message. DANG!

While tracting we were asking people if we could leave a blessing on their home in prayer. One guy let us in! His name is Josh and is a senior in high school. After the prayer we went straight into the Restoration. He loved it! He told us that it wasn't a coincidence that we knocked on his door. The only problem is that his Dad is a tough cookie. He will let us teach Josh, but is going to get in the way a lot.

We had Leadership Training Meeting on Thursday. I talked about Jacob 5:70-77. What an amazing set of verses! I talked about the blessings that come from being diligent and obedient. 

Friday I was on another exchange with a different zone leader. Elder Cluff! My old companion! While tracting, we met these teenagers who we thought were golden! Turns out they were just punking us. At the end they offered us Marijuana. It was ridiculous...

Overall, everything is great! Looking forward to Mothers day!

Elder Michael Litchfield